BNY in Talks with Payward for Digital Asset Infrastructure Deal

The banking giant and Kraken's parent firm are in talks about a comprehensive alliance spanning digital assets and market infrastructure, according to a Friday report from CoinDesk citing people familiar with the matter.

Any agreement could encompass custody services, wealth management, trading platforms, payment solutions, and infrastructure products delivered through Payward Services — the company's B2B arm serving banks, exchanges, and asset managers.

The conversations are ongoing, and no certainty exists that they will culminate in a formal deal. Neither BNY nor Payward responded to requests for comment from CoinDesk.

CoinDesk's report drew parallels to the infrastructure component of Payward's recent alliance with Nasdaq.

In September, Nasdaq Ventures committed $100 million to Payward as part of an expanded partnership between the two firms. That collaboration also includes continued development of the Nasdaq Equity Token (NET) framework and implementation of a new market surveillance agreement.

The NET framework is slated to debut tokenised equities in the second quarter of 2027, establishing a foundation for how equity tokens can transfer across different market environments. Nasdaq characterised the investment as backing the continued evolution of tokenised market infrastructure.

The parent company is placing a multibillion-dollar wager on its future as a financial infrastructure provider, Co-CEO Arjun Sethi told CoinDesk in a late September interview.

The firm has deployed significant capital on acquisitions that broadened its presence in futures, derivatives, and tokenised stocks. It has also pursued additional banking licences and capabilities in both the United States and Europe.

These moves form part of a broader strategy to transform Payward into a unified financial platform that combines trading, banking, asset management, and services for other institutions.

The custody bank views blockchain's future as residing inside the traditional banking system. During its second quarter earnings call in July, BNY emphasised that it is extending its central role in global capital markets into the infrastructure bridging conventional money, tokenised assets, and blockchain networks.

Payments, liquidity, collateral, digital assets and securities markets are becoming more interconnected, creating demand for infrastructure that operates with greater speed, certainty and resilience, CEO Robin Vince said during the call.

We believe this represents one of the defining opportunities for financial services over the next decade, and it is an area where BNY is well positioned to lead.